Whitebaiting

During the whitebait season the local river is regularly fished when the tide is coming in.

As I ran yesterday morning I spotted a wonderful reflection of a whitebaiter as I crossed a footbridge. I can't run and carry a larg-ish camera - 'thems the breaks' so I missed it. I stopped to chat with the guy and described to him his reflection and asked about the whitebait.

I have grim memories of whitebait fritters cooked by Nana and the delicacy passes me by. I wouldn't describe the Heathcote River as clean and asked him about the quality of the fish. When the fish come through in shoals they're fine, when they're in small groups they've been in the river too long and become known as 'black bellys'. You don't eat those.

He assured me he's never been sick and the quality is fine. On a good tide he catches 1-2kg. Seems the Heathcote is a food source but I'm still not tempted!

I returned with camera this morning but of course he wasn't there and the weather and light wasn't right for reflections.

Instead you have Wayne. He and his family were whitebaiting on another stretch of the river. They live north of Christchurch but travel into town because their local spot, Salt Water Creek, is too dirty to fish. They were all happy to have their photos taken. Wayne was quite shy but I really liked this smile and laugh for his partner.